SAN ANGELO COLTS: Almost out

Colts just one loss from elimination in playoff series

Kimberley Parker/Special to the Standard Times Logan Williamson pitches for the Colts in Thursday's playoff game against the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings at Foster Field. The Colts lost, falling to 0-3 in the best-of-seven series.

Kimberley Parker/Special to the Standard Times San Angelo's Daryl Jones tags out Rio Grande Valley's Wilmer Pino at first base Thursday at Foster Field. The Colts are one game from elimination in their best-of-seven playoff series against the WhiteWings, which could conclude tonight at Foster Field.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The San Angelo Colts have been pushed to the brink of elimination, and it will now take their best comeback of the summer to keep their season alive.

Rio Grande Valley scored seven runs in the seventh inning of Game 3 on Thursday to turn a close game into a blowout, giving the WhiteWings a 12-4 win and a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.

After dropping the first two games in Harlingen, the Colts had hoped to climb back into the series at Foster Field, where they were 33-15 in the regular season and won 14 straight at one point.

But they failed to take advantage of their chances Thursday, stranding 14 runners and twice leaving the bases loaded. Rio Grande Valley, meanwhile, scored 10 of its 12 runs with two outs.

The game got off to a feel-good start for the Colts when Ronnie Gaines led off the first inning by hitting the first pitch he saw out of the ballpark to put San Angelo on top 1-0.

Gaines, who recently took a job with TLC Academy as an assistant baseball coach, wasn't able to travel with the Colts down the stretch in the regular season, and he missed the first two games of the playoff series in Harlingen.

He leads the Colts with a .358 batting average, and his bat had been sorely missed. He received a nice ovation before his first at-bat, and those cheers quickly got louder when he hit a home run.

The Colts were unable to build off that early momentum, however, and Rio Grande took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when David Peralta hit a two-run single up the middle off a full-count pitch.

Rio Grande Valley added two more in the fifth to extend its lead to 4-1.

The Colts got within 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Daryl Jones hit an infield single to score Gaines, who drew a one-out walk and was moved to second base on a Cory Patton single.

Another infield single, this one by Brian Nichols, loaded the bases with one out. But the Colts were unable to get another run across, squandering the opportunity with back-to-back strikeouts.

After Rio Grande Valley scored in the sixth to push its lead to 5-2, the Colts again had a big chance to get back in the game.

Patton hit a two-out single to make it 5-3, bringing up Jones with two runners on base. A home run by Jones, who led the league with 28 round-trippers, would have given the Colts the lead, but he struck out to end the threat.

That proved to be a game-changing — perhaps series-changing — moment.

The WhiteWings scored seven runs in the next inning to blow the close game wide open. A two-run triple by Edgar Trejo made it 7-3 when right fielder Clay Calfee missed a diving attempt at a catch, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the fence.

Eric Gonzales then singled home Trejo to extend the lead to 8-3. Gabriel Ortiz and Wilmer Pino followed with a pair of two-run homers, and suddenly Rio Grande Valley was cruising with a 12-3 lead.

The Colts loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning, but they didn't get a single run out of it. A solo home run by Landon Camp in the ninth provided their only other run.

The Colts will begin what could be their final game of the season at 7:05 p.m. today at Foster Field.